Life preserver



Dec. 31; 1929.

E. w. SKOLDBERG .LIFE PRESERVER Filed March 30, 1928 WITNESSES ATTORNEYl. 25 and when the preserver is donned after a long ing 1 4;.

Patented Dec. 31.1929 i i k j UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE I ERNEST W.SKOLDBElR-G, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE rnnsnnvnn AppIication filed March 30., 1928. seriarn'o. 286,027.

The present invention is concerned with tion in connection withtheaccomp'anying the provision of life preservers of the vest ordrawings, whereinbody-encircling type. An object of the in l fl is-aplan view of a life preserveremvention is to provide a device of thischarbodying the invention, the preserver "being acter in whichthe vestis constructed of a shownfully onened an d with portions of two singlepiece of material. Off the pockets broken away to exposetlie 55 Such aconstructlon has many advantages. buoyant material within them. In thefirst place the weight of the non- Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewon the buoyant portion of the life preserver is light line 2-2 of Fig. 1but showing the pockets ened, its cost is decreased, its manufacture isbefore the buoyant material has been inserted simplified, and thebuoyant material which and the-pockets closed. occupies the pockets ofthe vest is retained Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the with much moresecurity than in the type of buoyant material in place and the pocketcomlife preservers now commonly employed. pleted by the top seam.

' In accordance with present practice, the It willbenote'd fromthedrawings'thatthe pockets with the buoyant material are formed life.preserver is formed of a single piece of by sewing together twooverlying similarfabricfolded upon itself and havingthefo'ldly shapedpiecesof fabric, the buoyant ma ed over portion lconnected to the bodyllof terial is inserted through theopen botthefabric by lines oftransversestitching l2, toms of the pockets thus formed, and the whichilines ofstitching cooperatively define .7 pockets subsequently closed by a line'of pockets for the buoyant material 13,, this stitching. In consequence,when this last line buoyant materialbeing inserted through the ofstitching rots out, the buoyant material is open tops of the,pocketswhich are subsefree to drop out of the bottoms of the pockets,quently closeclbyalongitudinal line ofstitchp i period of disuse, it isfrequently found that The life preserver is of the ordinary vest theseseams have rotted out and the preservers type including a back 315 andtwo "front secare worthless. tions 16,Fthere being provided the :usualarm- I In accordance with the present invention, holes 17 at thejuncture .ofithe "front section a single piece of material is foldedupon and the back section of the garmenaandthe itself to form thepockets; the bottoms of the garment carrying the. usual "bojd yencircling pockets being entirely seamless, and the fillstrap or tape 18'as wellas the "neck enciring. material being inserted from the top.cling tapes 19. Thus, there is nostitching at the pocket bot-ThepocketsQOwhiolrcontain theibuoyant toms to rot, and no danger oflosing the material13 extend from "the bottom the .85

buoyant material through the bottoms of the 'ga lmentto a heightapproximately midway pockets since the pockets are closed by an of-thearmholes 17,.leavinga single thickness integral strong piece of fabric,such for in- .Of material abovethispoint instead of the stance as canvasor the like. "usual double thickness. The armholes {as 40 Other and moregeneral objects of the inwell-asthisupper singlethickness of materialvention are to provide a-life preserver of e:finishedbyturning'overtheedges and simple, practical construction, which will be ng as at 21.rugged, durable and efiicient in use. Preferably the belt 18 1s retainedby the With the above noted and other objects in Same lines of stitching12 which help to define view 7 the invention consists in certain thepockets 20, while the straps 19 are sewed .95

7 novel features of construction and combinato the garment in anyconvenient or conventions and arrangements of parts as will be tionalmanner.

more fully hereinafter set forth and pointed In manufacturing thegarment, the last line out in the claims. The invention may be more ofstitching to beapplied is the line of stitchfully understood from thefollowing descriping 14 which closes the tops of the pockets.

Obviously, if it is desired to pack buoyant material in the pocketsimmediately under the armholes, lines of stitching such as the lines 12"may be omitted until such time as the pockets under the armholes havebeen packed from the sides, after which, the lines of stitching 12 andsubsequently the line of stitching 14 are made. a

By virtue of the above described construction, the pockets are providedwith integral seamless bottoms, and there are no threads to rot out andpermit the buoyant material to escape from the bottoms of the pockets. A

considerable economy of material is had due to the use of the singlethickness of canvas above the pockets, and manufacturing is materiallysimplified.

Obviously, various changes and alterations might be made in the generalform and arrangement of the parts described without departing from theinvention. Hence I do not wish to limit myself to the details set forth,but shall consider myself at liberty to make such changes andalterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A life preserver including a body encircling portion of fabric foldedlongitudinally upon itself at its lower edge, lines of transversestitching connecting the two thicknesses of folded over fabric to dividethe same into a series of pockets, buoyant material in the pockets andlines of stitching closing the tops of said pockets below the top of thebody, the bottoms of said pockets being seamless and formed by the foldof the fabric.

2. A life preserver of the vest type including a sheet of fabricdefining a body encircling portion having armholes therein, the lowerportion of the sheet being folded upwardly upon the body encirclingportion below the armholes and secured thereto by lines of stitchingdefining a series of vertically disposed seamless bottomed pockets,buoyant material in the pockets, and a line of stitching stitchingterminating well below the top of .50' the body encircling portionwhereby the upclosin the tops of the pockets, said line of per part ofthe latter is of a'single thickness of material.

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this23 day of March,

ERNEST W. SKOLDBERG.

